“... 16:13-14. role of the Spirit of the Lord. In the Judges period the Spirit of the Lord endowed an individual with central authority that only the Lord possessed (see comment on Judg 6:34-35). The Spirit of the Lord came on Saul in very similar circumstances (see comment on 11:6) and also associated him with prophetic activity (see 10:6). The role of the king represented a more permanent central authority and likewise relied on empowerment by the Lord. The king was an agent of deity and a heavenly functionary just as judges and prophets were. The Spirit did not empower two individuals for the same task at the same time. When David received the authorization for the role as representative, it was taken away from Saul. Just as the Spirit was able to give the positive attributes of courage, charisma, insight, wisdom and confidence, negative results could also be produced by spiritual influence. These would include fear, paranoia, indecisiveness, suspicion and shortsightedness. The term used to describe this spiritual influence in verse 14 does not necessarily suggest something morally evil but has a wide range of negative manifestations (see for instance Judg 9:23; Is 4:4; 37:7; 61:3). Just as God can punish with physical illness, he can discipline by means of psychological affliction. In Mesopotamia the king was seen as being endowed with the melammu of the gods (the visible representation of the glory of deity). It designated him as the divine representative and indicated that his legitimacy was approved by the gods. In Assyrian inscriptions it is pictured hovering over the king. The melammu could be revoked if the king proved unworthy or incompetent. So in the epilogue to Hammurabi’s Laws the king utters a curse on anyone who does not heed the words of the law. If it is a future king, Hammurabi says, “May Anu revoke his melammu, break his scepter and curse his destiny.” ...”